I’m a big fan of curry mee, in fact, it is probably my second most favorite hawker dishes all of time, just right behind char kuih teow.
But unlike char kuih teow that are almost always served with the same ingredients, curry mee can be tricky. There’re the Ipoh/central region variety that comes with curry chicken, cockles, and (if you are lucky) pork skin, and there’s the Penang version with prawns, santan based broth, cockles, and increasingly rarely – coagulated pork blood.
P/S: this stall has moved to Seapark, PJ. Click here to find out.
hail to Penang curry mee, with pork blood!
The Penang version curry mee isn’t the most common hawker offering in Klang Valley, and as far as I know, only a handful of them serve up a bowl with all the ingredients. So when I found out about this curry mee stall at the newish hawker center at PJ Old Town by the name of Restaurant Good Food, I was rather excited.
prawns, cockles, blood, and tofupok
The operator did speak fluent Penang hokkien, and the bowl of curry mee did indeed come with all the bell & whistles you’d expect – with some extra long beans & lime, but minus the mint leave (i’m nitpicking here).
Apart from the prawns being a bit smallish, this was actually a very good bowl of curry mee, it was the “right” flavor all the way down to the proper sambal with that iconic slightly burnt taste to it. I liked it.
For me, the curry mee at Restaurant Okay at SS2 still edges over this one, but I can almost never wake up in time before they are sold out (usually by 9 a.m. on weekends). This place opens till around 3pm, so hureii!
Address:
Restoran Good Food
Jalan Penchala
Seksyen 51,
46000 Petaling Jaya
GPS: 3.087026, 101.641479
morning till 3pm, close every 1st & 3rd Sundays
I’m a curry mee lover, but I am bias, I almost usually only love the Penang style curry mee, you know, those with coagulated pork blood, prawns, and sea hum. My favorite Penang style curry mee at Klang Valley is the one at Restaurant Okay, SS2.
note: This kopitiam is now a restaurant, no more hawker stalls
The KL/Ipoh style curry mee has always been playing second fiddle, and to me, almost always an inferior dish… until I tried this one from Blue & White kopitiam just behind Fahrenheit 88.
check out those cockles and chicken
The stall wasn’t a particularly busy one either, but I ordered a bowl of curry mee just to give it a try earlier this week. The lady asked if I wanted cockles, I told her yes. Cockles aren’t the healthiest seafood, but I like mine almost raw, I like them juicy, and that’s exactly how they serve cockles here, and in abundance too!
deep fried pork skin too, yums
The RM 5 bowl of goodness also comes with a few pieces of deep fried pork skin, another heart attack inducing agent that I can never resist – very yummy. The broth is of course, curry chicken based, and the were ample amount of chicken pieces too.
A few pieces of tofupok and some long beans made up the rest of the ingredients, it was a hearty meal and one that was way above my expectations. Revisit, I shall!
petai and (very small) prawns at the “siu chau” stall
By the way, the “siu chau” (小炒) stall at the same kopitiam also serves pretty good petai prawn that goes for RM 7 or so with an extra egg. It’s a bit spicy, and for sure will leave your pee smelling like petai for the next 2 days.
Bon Appétit!
Address:
Blue White Teow Chew Porridge Kopitiam
Jalan Gading, 55100 Kuala Lumpur
GPS: 3.14622, 101.71415
From afar, Pau Kee is just another one of the many unsuspecting kopitiam by Imbi area. And by from afar, I meant from Win Heng Seng kopitiam, a place that I frequent quite a bit for lunch for it’s char kueh teow and pork noodle.
Eventually curiosity got the better of me (and I do get bored of same dishes very fast), so I decided to give it a try several weeks ago.
Pau Kee – Ipoh Hor Fun
Pau Kee’s main dish is Ipoh hor fun, steamed chicken, and prawn wantan, much like the excellent Soo Kee at Paramount Garden, but in addition to that, they also have wantan mee, and Ipoh style curry mee (with curry chicken).
The one benefit of them serving all these different dishes is that you can let your imagination run wild and have combos such as wantan mee with curry soup, or dried “wantan mee” but with hor fun instead.
Ipoh horfun that looks and tasted like the real deal
Their ipoh horfun though, is a thing of beauty. Look at the photo above, the prawns at center on a bed of shredded steamed chicken on top of the horfun (kuih teow) and bean sprouts, accompanied by spring onions that is precariously cut. Then there’s the soup with a ring of floating chili oil, I mean, it’s beautiful isn’t it?
Fortunately, this thing tastes as good as well.
steamed chicken, soup wantan mee, dry wantan mee, curry mee
I’ve been there a handful of times since, and tried their curry mee (another excellent dish with pretty thick curry broth and fragrant sambal), dried wantan mee (prawn wantan and shredded chicken was good, but the sauce was a bit lacking), steamed chicken (smooth! I’d rate this just below Soo Kee), and sui kao soup (just above average).
The dishes are around RM 5 and up, the portion of steamed chicken above costs RM 8, so prices are really very reasonable. Oh, there’s air conditioning too.
Restaurant Pau Kee
No 10, Jalan Utara (next to Honda showroom)
off Jalan Imbi,
55100 Kuala Lumpur
GPS: 3.145417, 101.715629
Tel : 016-375 1360
I’m a big fan of curry mee, the good old Penang curry mee. The type that comes in santan based soup with fragrant chili paste and typically ensures a few smooth trips to the loo if you have it say.. three day in a row.
In Klang Valley, you usually call it curry laksa.
Penang style curry mee at Hoi Kee kopitiam
This particular stall of curry mee was discovered accidentally when we went Hoi Kee kopitiam at Segambut for nasi lemak with pork. It was already finished for that day, I chose to try the curry mee as a substitute, and it turned out to be a brilliant accident instead. 
nothing beats that fragrant sambal and raw cockles
While this version at Segambut does not come with pork’s blood (otherwise it’d be totally perfect), the chili, soup, and other ingredients did come together harmoniously to make a great bowl of curry mee. I also especially love those big juicy RAW cockles. Something that I believe people like Kim would love to have her hands on.
KY and Haze, with cendawan joining us too
So if you are a curry mee lover like me, this is definitely a place to check out. For those staying at PJ, go to Restaurant Okay, but be there before 9 a.m. But for everyone else (especially those who isn’t so keen on coagulated blood anyway, or can’t wake up before 9), this is the best place to go!
Oh, they are pet friendly too.
Address:
Kedai Kopi & Makanan Hoi Kee
No. 2, Jalan Segambut Tengah,
Segambut, 51200 Kuala Lumpur
GPS: 3.18564, 101.67633
Since I moved to the site office for work, I’ve been visiting Pavilion quite a bit due to the close proximity. So pretty soon I started exploring a bit more and a couple weeks ago, stumbled upon this curiously familiar looking restaurant on the 5th 6th floor by the name of Grandmama’s.
Grandmama’s to Madam Kwan’s is like BK to McD. The decoration is similar, and so is the menu (nasi bojari, char kueh teow, fish and chips etc). There are rumors saying they are owned by siblings or something…
Grandmama’s char kueh teow and beef hor fun
Since the initial visit with my colleague, I’ve been to the place in three separate occasions. I can happily said that the 3 different dishes tried so far have been all pretty good, at least taste wise.
The Char Kueh Teow comes with a couple big prawns, slices of fish cake, squid, chicken, and the usual chives and bean sprouts. Despite the seemingly non traditional ingredients, it turned out to be a surprisingly decent dish. The flavor and the kick is as good as you’d find from any air conditioned restaurant.
Curry Laksa, or curry mee as known to Penangites, comes in an overly large bowl and contains taupok, prawns, squid, ladies finger, and brinjal which I love. It’d be better if there’s some bloody cockles though (or coagulated pork blood, but I think that would be way too much to ask for, hehe)
curry laksa, nasi bojari, and hakka fried rice
The other dish I had was the unassuming looking Hakka Fried Rice. A plate of fried rice with dark sauce that has prawns, chicken, and plenty of chopped long bean in it. This one was pretty good too especially with some cili padi to go with. I had this after Horng’s favorable comment.
Terence, Winnie, Mychelle, Pauline at Grandmama’s, Pavilion KL
Ngau Hor (beef kueh teow), Chicken Mushroom Rice and Nasi Bojari that others had too turned out to be plenty good, though my other colleague ordered Fish and Chips that tasted just average.
So while food is generally pretty good at Grandmama’s, the pricing is a bit on the higher side. Nasi bojari costs RM 22, and most other hawker style dishes are around RM 14.5 to just below RM 20. You do get free plain water though.
Still a place worth visit for it’s pretty decent quality of food and good ambiance while not always overly crowded like Madam Kwan’s.
Address:
Grandmama’s
Lot 6.01.01, 6.01.02
Level 6, Pavilion KL
168, Jalan Bukit Bintang
Kuala Lumpur
GPS: 3.148872, 101.713368
Tel: 03-2143 9333
